Illustration Monday

I have recently been playing with possible illustration styles for the novel I’m currently developing through the mentorship. I have been through about eight different styles so far, and have finally settled on something that feels most suited to the tone and feel of the story. I have always loved manga and anime: their stylized illustrations have largely influenced my own developing style, starting back when I was a small child obsessed with ‘The Last Unicorn‘. Certainly for this project the bold outlines and large expressive eyes and faces are really suited. Over the years I have also been developing a love for collage – namely the bold textures and contrast you can build up using different materials. In the image below I’ve used recycled papers, carpet, lace and even foil. I sketched her in Corel Painter using my wacom tablet and then constructed the finished image using Photoshop.

Although I may initially work in colour, any final images in children’s novels are of course black and white. The image seems to translate well even without the colour, however I’m still perfecting this.

I may post more as the style develops and as I design other characters. So far I am just enjoying experimenting and am still very much in the early designing phase.

I too love getting a ‘behind the scenes’ view of how people create their art. I’m using digital art more and more, but still prefer a more ‘hand-done’ look and feel. I’ve been collecting collage items for years (luckily I scan them into my computer and don’t have to keep them, otherwise I would need a warehouse!)